14 Feb 2021

Nutri Feeds Botswana general manager Mr Pieter Visagie says as a way of supporting small poultry farmers, they give a five per cent discount to members of the Kgatleng Poultry Association, a local association they have partnered with.

Speaking at a donation event held by the department of agribusiness promotion in Mochudi recently, he expressed appreciation to Nutri Feeds customers, stating that the customers were the easiest people to work with.

“I have seen some of the performance results of their chickens. They are good at rearing and they are not difficult people,” he said, adding that the company however had to raise the feed prices.

He explained that this was due to the fact that prices of products such as maize and soya had gone up. He also noted that there was no factory in Botswana where poultry feeds were cheaper than at the depot.

Giving an overview of the poultry and animal feeds depot, he said approximately three years ago, the depot sold roughly 80 tonnes to 100 tonnes of feed in a month but currently, on a good month they sold about 1 500 tonnes.

He further said he would appreciate more poultry feed factories in the country, saying it would mean more competition, more feed, and therefore more small farmers coming in to join the association and produce more food for themselves and getting an income.

“I am really looking forward to the poultry industry in Botswana growing bigger as it a good way for people to make a living.” He said.

Introducing Kgatleng Poultry Association, chairperson Ms Nancy Makwinja said the association was a government initiative that was established in 2013 with only a startup of 10 farmers.

She said the association currently had 77 members with only five being males. She said for their first tender, the association supplied seven schools with poultry products. 

She however said for their second, they were currently supplying only four institutions. She said government initiative had helped eradicate poverty as they were now able to earn an income and feed their families.

Kgatleng District Agribusiness Promotions officer Ms Emang Orapeleng said although the association was an independent marketing entity, they assisted and empowered them with capacity building, adding that the group was on the right track.

“We are proud of them because they are independent. We audit and inspect them time and again and we are proud of how far they have come,” she concluded. Ends